Thursday, April 10, 2014

Thrift Fix with Holly from Style From the Sticks

I’m in Florida right now for a conference, and half of what I packed are second-hand items! I’ll take some selfies while I’m here and share my outfits with you next week. But this week, I’m excited to have a guest blogger, Holly from Style from the Sticks.

Holly Jirovsky is a middle-aged, stay-at-home mom in Iowa, otherwise known as where style goes to die. In a previous life, she worked in advertising as a writer and also in the publishing industry. She can be found up at midnight poring over fashion magazines with a glass of sangria posing as her editor.

She’s a real mom, just like you. She doesn’t have time on a daily basis to spend carefully choosing what to wear. Her mastery is the quick outfit for real life. She strives for affordability (keeping costs to less than $100), accessibility (these looks can be found your local mall, online or a thrift shop) and Photoshop free pictures.

(And isn’t she adorable? Be sure and check out her other cute outfits on her blog!)

Thrifting is such an easy topic for me. It’s in my blood. I’m the kind of girl that doesn’t shy away from digging through trash to find my treasure. I completely and totally appreciate the wonderfulness of new clothes. But I’m also conscious of two things, cost and excess.

It boggles the mind to really think of all the new things that are produced daily. And all of what is still usable that ends up in a landfill. I like new trends just as much as the next girl and won’t stop buying new. But I shop more often than not at thrift stores and garage sales, anywhere secondhand. Not only because these clothes still have plenty of life in them but also because I know I do good things by giving them a second chance.

And then there is the financial issue. I shop at thrift stores even though there is money in my pocket to buy something new. I enjoy getting more bang for my buck. And while there are certain things I cannot pass up that are new, I love finding little gems secondhand. So does my wallet.

I am so excited to share my love of thrifting in this series. Last year I wrote a series on how to become a savvy thrifter and you can read that here. Also, to challenge myself, I did a little project on putting together outfits in a thrift store quickly. I think I did all of the outfits in under an hour. You can read those here.

For this post, I thought I would take my thrifting skills to another level and give myself a half hour to find as many clothing treasures as I could, that I will actually wear this spring/summer for around $20. This adventure took me to my local thrift store, Trinkets and Togs, where you can find just about anything. The bonus of shopping there, they support the disabled and it makes you feel great knowing you are supporting a good cause while you shop.

Trinkets and Togs does a great job of keeping their store clean and organized. Such is not the case for many of secondhand stores. So you have to be prepared to dig. Don’t always stay in your size. Sometimes things get mixed up or kids’ clothes find their way into adults, etc.

For my half hour, I hit the racks running. I started with my size and stuck to mainly shirts because pants are a “must try on” and I didn’t have time for that. Once I was through my shirt size rack, I poked through a few of the other sizes, just to be sure. Here is an example of some of the items I found, but didn’t purchase:

I also made my way through some of the coats, the shoes and the home goods. All in a half hour!

Here are the treasures I found that you’ll be seeing on Style from the Sticks soon!

I found a surprisingly large amount of white shirts on this visit that were in pristine condition. They don’t even look like they’ve been worn. And since it is my favorite color, I snapped them up. Plus, I love to wear white in the summer!

Don’t let the label concern you. If it does, cut it out! I bought this to wear as a swimsuit cover up!

I love this shirt because it is stretchy and has the peplum bottom. It will be great for a girls’ night out!

This top is also for a fun night. Maybe a date night with the Mr. this summer. I love the cut out in the back!Here is just a casual tee that I’ll be happy to wear with jeans when I’m running errands.

About Me

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura wrote about her life on the prairie in the Little House books. I write about my life on the prairie here, On the Banks of Squaw Creek. I hope you'll stay to learn more about me, our farm, our family, and our farmhouse.